Monday, March 11, 2013

Progress on Mary Hart, TUSAL, and more

I have made some progress on Mary Hart.

The Mary Hart Sampler - 32 ct linen with AVAS

I just love the bright bold color. I have always been partial to red!

The verse is tiny, tiny, tiny, all one over one. I just started a bit of it to see what it would look like.

I have to bring the border down both sides a bit more before I work on the verse.

It's also time again for the TUSAL!
You can see all the red from Mary.


Furry loves to supervise!

Still no peep from the peeps!


The first batch has one more week to go. This time next week, we will be on peep watch.

I really hope something hatches, or I will be very disappointed!

Unfortunately we are not making much progress with Walter. The hens still peck him mercilessly!
I have heard of this happening with other roosters, but I really though he would be able to handle the hens by now. Walter clearly prefers people and cats to other chickens!

Here he is with Keith.


I don't know what we are going to do with him! He should be old enough to be mixed in with the other chickens, but I guess we have to give him more time.

Enjoy your day everyone!
I'll be back soon!

Friday, March 1, 2013

The Harriot Boardman Sampler is finished!

Yay!

I tried to follow the pattern of the flowers and the grass as closely as I could, but there were a few places where the hilly grass seemed to get away from me! Oh well! I am pretending the wind was blowing it!

Generally I am pleased with how she turned out.

I did have a hard time taking a photo!
Why is it, as soon as you lay something out to take a picture, this happens!


Not just one of them, but two of them had to get into the action!

Ollie scooted off, but Furry was not about to leave!

Finally!

The Harriot Boardman Sampler - The Scarlet Letter
Stitched with DMC on Green linen

I really enjoyed stitching this one, and I loved the special green/blue linen!


For my next project, I picked the Mary Hart Sampler.
 

Here is a better look:

I am a cat lover, and simply cannot resist a sampler with a cat on it!

Mary is from the M.H. de Young Memorial Museum in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco. CA.

The colors on the cat are truly weird but it is suggested that perhaps exposure to ultra violet light over the years has changed the original color of the dyes.
The verse is quite morbid, and a second verse is given for those who want to change it.
No problem for me! I love the morbid ones!

This is the verse:
This little Piece my Friends may have,
When I am dead and in my Grave
When greedy Worms shall feed on me.
My name hereunder you may see
 
Ha! Love it!

I am going to stitch it on 32 count linen in Antique White, using Au ver a soie, my favorite silk. Luckily for me, I had all the necessary colors.
 
 
(Notice the furry foot at the top of the page ? - Different day, same Furrytail foot)!
 
On the home front, Walter, our reluctant rooster has been growing like a weed! The problem is, he doesn't know he is big. He is quite a bit taller than the hens now, but still hasn't filled out. He is a little older than 3 months now, and is at that awkward adolescent stage. He is still terrified of the hens and keeps well clear of them.
 
Walter
 
We were looking to replace our hens that were killed by the hawks, and we decided to try to hatch our own.
 
We love our Gertie's blue-green eggs, so we ordered some Ameraucana eggs. We also ordered some of the dark brown, Black Copper Maran eggs.
 
 
Here they are in the incubator:
 
 
We have been told to expect 50% to hatch at best. I am hoping we will get lucky with the odds and get more hens than roosters! We also have 6 more eggs on their way. That will give us 20 eggs. If 10 hatch, hopefully we will get 5 or more hens!
Time will tell.
Our first hatch date is March 18th!
 
I will keep you posted.